PINOY EXPATS AWARDS

Marami pa rin siguro ang galit kay Chip Tsao, hindi ito nakapagtataka dahil maliban sa higit isang daang-libong OFW sa HongKong at sa kulang-kulang 10 million OFW sa buong mundo ay ang isang bansang naghihintay sa pag-uwi ng kanilang mga minamahal na lumisan para sa pangako ng mas magandang buhay. Nais ko sanang magkwento ng mas personal na entry bilang suporta sa ating mga Pinoy Expat Bloggers, pero wala pa rin ako sa tamang lagay upang gawin iyon. Kaya naman humihingi ako ng paumanhin at hindi pa ako makapagkwento ngayon ng kahit ano. Ngunit, sa kabila noon...gusto ko pa rin ipahayag ang aking suporta sa proyektong ito. Ang Pinoy OFW/Expats Blog awards.



Madalas sa aking pag-iikot sa blogosperyo ay palagi akong napupunta sa blogs na pag-aari ng mga Pinoy Expats, karaniwan salamin bawat karanasan ng mga blogista ang kanilang tahanan online. Dito mababasa natin ang bawat tagumpay at kabiguan ng isang Pinoy OFW, pero higit sa mga kwento tungkol sa mga lugar na kanilang nabisita, mga trabahong pinagpapaguran at mga bagong kaibigang nakilala sa bansang kanilang kinaroroonan ay ang mga kwento ng paghahangad na muling makauwi sa kanilang tahanan.

Sa ngayon, let me share these two articles:

Ang una ay ang kay Patricia Evanglista, una ko itong nabasa noong 17 p alang ako. Isa itong speech tungkol sa paksa na "Borderless World" pero higit sa paksa, sa tingin ko ay nailarawan dito ang iba't-ibang aspeto at emosyon na umiikot sa tinatawag na Filipino Diaspora. Ang ikalawang artikulo, ay kamaikailan ko lang nabasa at isa itong kabaligtaran ng artikulo ni Chip Tsao. Nilalaman nito ang pananaw ng isang dayuhan sa kontribusyon nating mga Pinoy sa buhay nila.

BLONDE AND BLUE EYES
by Patricia Evangelista

When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the
country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.

I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd
wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and
freckles across my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination does that to you.
I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be
five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad
in search of "greener pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a
trend; the Filipino diaspora. Today, about eight million Filipinos
are scattered around the world.

There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I
used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left
behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each
succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that
has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes
offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the
Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is
tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying
this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side
of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a
borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from
where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a
quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts
resulting from a combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of
different ethnicities, with national identities and individual
personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a
microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is
England is the world, so is my neighbourhood back home.

Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of
populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be
understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still
trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of
dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now,
when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from
college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot
absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is
not so much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we
take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the
UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million
seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships. We are your
software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the
Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your
musical artists in London's West End.

Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations
migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they
are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural
nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We
are, indeed, in a borderless world!

Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that
is. The Hobbits of the shire travelled all over Middle-Earth, but
they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call
people like these balikbayans or the 'returnees' -- those who
followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature
talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come
my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude
the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't
about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving
back to the country that shaped me.

And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside
my windows on a bright Christmas morning.

Mabuhay and Thank you.

Ang ikalawang artikulo, ay kamaikailan ko lang nabasa at isa itong kabaligtaran ng artikulo ni Chip Tsao. Nilalaman nito ang pananaw ng isang dayuhan sa kontribusyon nating mga Pinoy sa buhay nila.

Imagine a world without Filipinos
Abdullah Al-Maghlooth | Al-Watan, almaghlooth@alwatan.com.sa


Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”

Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us .

FILIPINOS ABROAD, HOPE OF THE NATION, A GIFT TO THE WORLD. Indeed.